History: Sheldon Mervin Chumir, 1940-1992, was born in Calgary, Alberta, the son of Jewish immigrants Harry and Clara Chumir, who operated a small grocery store. He was educated at the I. L. Peretz School, Central Memorial High School, and the University of Alberta, where he received a law degree. He then studied at Oxford as one of Alberta's 1963 Rhodes Scholars. He was a tax lawyer at the law firm later known as Bennett Jones from 1965-1968 and 1969-1976. He invested successfully in real estate, oil and gas exploration, and rock concert promotion. In 1976 he established a sole law practice, Sheldon M. Chumir Professional Corporation, specializing in civil liberties cases, which he often undertook without charging fees. Chumir was a founder of the Calgary Civil Liberties Association, and a member of the Alberta and Canadian civil liberties associations. He served as Chairman of the Civil Liberties Section of the Canadian Bar Association, 1981-1982, and on committees concerned with legislative review, freedom of information, police practices, race relations, and human rights. He served on the board of the United Way of Calgary from 1984 to 1986, and was founder of Save Public Education, a Calgary organization opposed to public funding of religious schools. Chumir was elected as a Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Calgary Buffalo in 1986, and was re-elected in 1989. He was unmarried and had no close relatives at the time of his premature death. He left the bulk of his estate to the establishment of the Sheldon M. Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership. The Sheldon M. Chumir Health Centre in Calgary was named in his memory. For further information, see "Sheldon Chumir" in Building a Province : 60 Alberta Lives / Brian Brennan. - Calgary : Fifth House, 2000, p. 201-203.